A huge battery upgrade from Apple is coming and it is shaping up to be a tale of two phones in 2026. The iPhone 18 Pro Max battery leak shows it is set to be masive at 5567mAh - roughly 10% bigger than the 2025 iPhone 17 Pro Max model. The smaller iPhone 18 Pro however, barely moves the needle. The numbers surfaced through Chinese regulatory filings last month, spotted inside the 3C certification database by tipster Digital Chat Station.
Apple, as usual, has said nothing about the iPhone 18 Pro Max battery capacity- it never publishes raw battery figures at all. Cameras might tell a different story this autumn, with rumours pointing to the biggest hardware leap in years, led by a variable aperture main lens.
That same 3C paperwork lists the iPhone 18 Pro battery at 4288mAh, just 36mAh above the current iPhone 17 Pro. Photos of what's said to be that same battery cell later turned up on a Korean blog, showing a 5391mAh rating that lines up with the Chinese version of the larger phone. The trade-off for the bigger battery is reportedly a thicker body.
Both phones are expected to run on the A20 Pro chip, built on a 2nm process, alongside a third-generation Apple C2 modem. Rumoured LTPO+ displays could also cut power draw, meaning raw capacity alone will not decide which phone lasts longer day to day.
Mark Gurman has called the incoming Pro lineup the biggest camera leap made by Apple in years, led by a variable aperture on the main lens. One leaker suggested last fall the feature might be exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Most iPhone 18 Pro Max leaks instead expect the 48-megapixel main camera on both the Pro models to get the mechanism, giving direct control over depth of field, alongside a wider telephoto aperture and Pro-exclusive camera software.
Recent iPhone 18 Pro Max battery gains look modest next to the expected ones in 2026 - Chinese iPhone 16 Pro Max units carried 4685mAh, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max added just 138mAh on top. The leaked 568mAh increase is roughly four times that step, and would mark the widest single-year battery gain the Pro Max has ever recorded. iPhone 18 Pro Max launch is in early September, with sales following in the second half of the month.